Abstract
A sequential three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulation code PICPSI-3D with a user friendly graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed and used to study the interaction of plasma with ultrahigh intensity laser radiation. A case study of laser–plasma-based electron acceleration has been carried out to assess the performance of this code. Simulations have been performed for a Gaussian laser beam of peak intensity 5 × 1019 W/cm2 propagating through an underdense plasma of uniform density 1 × 1019 cm − 3, and for a Gaussian laser beam of peak intensity 1.5 × 1019 W/cm2 propagating through an underdense plasma of uniform density 3.5 × 1019 cm − 3. The electron energy spectrum has been evaluated at different time-steps during the propagation of the laser beam. When the plasma density is 1 × 1019 cm − 3, simulations show that the electron energy spectrum forms a monoenergetic peak at ~14 MeV, with an energy spread of ±7 MeV. On the other hand, when the plasma density is 3.5 × 1019 cm − 3, simulations show that the electron energy spectrum forms a monoenergetic peak at ~23 MeV, with an energy spread of ±7.5 MeV.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M D Perry and G Mourou, Science 264, 5161 (1994)
V Yanovsky et al, Opt. Exp. 16, 3 (2008)
M D Perry et al, Opt. Lett. 24(3), 160 (1999)
M Aoyama et al, Opt. Lett. 28(17), 1594 (2003)
Y Jiang et al, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B20, 1 (2003)
B Dromey et al, Nature Phys. 2, 456 (2006)
T Tajima and J M Dawson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 43, 267 (1979)
A Modena et al, Nature 377, 606 (1995)
S P D Mangles et al, Nature 431, 535 (2004)
C G R Geddes, C S Toth, J Van Tilborg, E Esarey, C B Schroeder, D Bruhwiler, C Nieter, J Cary and W P Leemans, Nature 431, 538 (2004)
J Faure, Y Glinec, A Pukhov, S Kiselev, S Gordienko, E Lefebvre, J-P Rousseau, F Burgy and V Malka, Nature 431, 541 (2004)
M Borghesi et al, Fusion Sci. Technol. 49, 412 (2006)
V Malka et al, Nature Phys. 4, 447 (2008)
A Pukhov and S Gordienko, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A364, 623 (2006)
A Pukhov, MPQ-Report on High Performance 3D PIC Code VLPL: Virtual Laser Plasma Lab
E Miura, K Koyama, S Kato, N Saito, M Adachi, Y Kawada, T Nakamura and M Tanimoto, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 251501 (2005)
A Yamazaki et al, Phys. Plasmas 12, 093101 (2005)
T Hosokai et al, Phys. Rev. E73, 036407 (2006)
C-H Hsieh, C-M Huang, C-L Chang, Y-C Ho, Y-S Chen, J-Y Lin, J Wang and S-Y Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 095001 (2006)
B Hidding et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 105004 (2006)
M Mori et al, Phys. Lett. A356, 146 (2006)
W P Leemans et al, Nature Phys. 2, 696 (2006)
J Osterhoff, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 085002 (2008)
W P Leemans et al, Nature Phys. 2, 696 (2006)
P A Naik and P D Gupta, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B21, 459 (2007)
C Nieter, J. Comp. Phys. 196, 448 (2004)
C K Birdsall and A B Langdon, Plasma physics via computer simulation (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985)
R A Fonseca et al, Lecture notes in computer science (Springer, Berlin, 2002) Vol. 2331
K S Yee, IEEE Trans. Ant. Prop. 14, 302 (1966)
J P Boris, Proc. 4th Conf. Num. Sim. Plasmas edited by J P Boris and R A Shanny (Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC, 1970) pp. 3–67
R Bingham et al, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 46, R1 (2004)
J Villasenor and O Buneman, Comput. Phys. Commun. 69, 306 (1992)
S R Bobbili, A Moorti, P A Naik and P D Gupta, New J. Phys. 12, 045011 (2010)
A Pukhov and J Meyer-ter-Vehn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3975 (1996)
A Pukhov and J Meyer-ter-Vehn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 2686 (1997)
A Pukhov and J Meyer-ter-vehn, Appl. Phys. B74, 355 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
UPADHYAY, A., PATEL, K., RAO, B.S. et al. Three-dimensional simulation of laser–plasma-based electron acceleration. Pramana - J Phys 78, 613–623 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-011-0254-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12043-011-0254-5